"Test everything; retain what is good.” (1 Thes 5:21) A laywoman expresses concerns about issues in the Roman Catholic Church to foster positive dialogue by posing and exploring questions.
Please remember that Canon Law says it is not only a right but a duty to question the church. Also, Canon Law provides an over-riding power to the sensus fidelium (sense of the faithful). By this, Canon Law says that if the sensus fidelium (collective of the faithful) reject a law, it is not valid.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Thoughts on church leadership...

Earlier in 2012, the Pew Research Center released a
study with a statistic that 70% of U.S. Catholics are satisfied with the
leadership provided by the American bishops.That statistic breaks down as follows:

24% “very satisfied”

46% “somewhat satisfied

13% “somewhat dissatisfied”

12% “very dissatisfied”

5% “don’t
know”

In surveying, the order of satisfaction categories typically goes
something like this:

Completely satisfied (meaning 100% positive)

Very satisfied (almost 100% positive but there
are a few insignificant issues)

Satisfied (lots of good things but enough negative
that it doesn’t merit an amplifying adjective)

Somewhat satisfied/Somewhat dissatisfied or
sometimes categorized as “neutral” (when the glass has 50% water and 50% air,
it can be described as “half full” or “half empty” but the amount of water is
the same either way)

Dissatisfied (lots of negatives but enough positives
that it doesn’t merit an amplifying adjective)

Very dissatisfied (almost 100% negative but there
are a few redeeming things)

Completely dissatisfied (nothing redeeming about
this)

Typically, only “completely” and “very” satisfied responses are considered
positive ones.Since “somewhat satisfied”
implies a person is also “somewhat dissatisfied”, these responses are often
combined into one category representing the tepid, “eh…” response – the type that
is expressed accompanied by wrinkled nose and shrugged shoulders.However, the Pew study did not pose the question
in a way to capture the “eh…” response explicitly.It must be derived by adding the two “somewhat”
categories.

Therefore, instead of thinking 70% are satisfied, it might be more
realistic to say 59% think, “eh…”The combination
of “eh…” and negative responses yields insight that 71% of U.S. Catholics are
less than thrilled with the American bishops’ leadership. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Competent leaders should see these results as identifying a very big
problem, one that many Catholics would like to see addressed.Successfully addressing such a problem
requires following a simple problem solving methodology:

Admit there is a problem

Understand its causes

Address the causes

1.Do the bishops admit there is
a problem?I do not know but I
personally doubt they do.

2.Making a bold assumption that
they do, the next step is to understand underlying causes such as the bishops’
lack of credibility.Examining the credibility
issues’ causes might reveal people perceiving the bishops as:

A.Asserting authority on topics in which they lack
expertise such as science, biology, sociology, psychology, sexuality, medicine,
women, marriage and family lifeB.Denying new understandings
on those same topicsC.Clinging to theological concepts
that are based on flawed understandings of those topics combined with flawed
logicD.Making decisions that
impact people negatively based upon those flawed understandingsE.Violating the 6th Commandment pertaining
to sexual improprietyF.Violating the 8th Commandment pertaining
to telling the truth and bearing false
witnessG.Being hypocritical such as declaring themselves the
ultimate arbiters of truth while repeatedly demonstrating difficulty telling itH.Prioritizing preservation of hierarchical power
and traditions over Scripture, the Commandments and ministryI.Inconsistently and
arbitrarily applying rules or Canon LawJ.Fearing women, laypeople, science, change, sin,
sinners, death, facts, the media, sexualityK.Focusing on their shepherd association more than
on their sheepL.Focusing on trivial matters
like the new liturgy translation M.Pretending things that
happened didn't, such as covering up priest sexual abuses, or denying the
history of ordaining women deaconsN.Pretending things happened
that didn’t such as claiming Jesus ordained anyone, or said women couldn’t be
ordained O.Lauding and rewarding
bishops and clergy who exhibit bad behaviorP. Contradicting gospel messages

To the last point, I've only gotten as far as Chapter 27 in Matthew
doing a categorization exercise but from getting that far in that one gospel I’ve
read Jesus:

33 times reprimands religious leaders

22 times heals people

19 times rails against hypocrisy especially
amongst religious leaders

12 times reprimands/corrects his closest
followers (the apostles let's say)

9 times says that children and/or the weakest
shall be the highest valued

Bishops say they are superior imitators of Christ and from this claim
their authority.In doing so, they call
themselves to a higher standard.Regardless,
all Christians are called to imitate Jesus.Therefore it is reasonable to ask of ourselves and the bishops:

What are we doing to reprimand religious
leaders?

When and how are we healing people?

What are we doing to address hypocrisy
especially amongst religious leaders?

What are we doing to correct the Apostles?

How do we put our weakest members and children
first?

We can and should be concerned about the bishops’ poor credibility but
we should also be concerned about our own.By challenging them, it will help ensure we institutionally admit our
problems and also that we delve into why they exist so we can fix them.

3.How can the bishops address
their credibility issues?It’s not
difficult to name what must be done.Due
to human nature, the challenge emerges in executing the steps.This isn’t an exhaustive list of ideas to address the bishops' credibility issue but it’s a
start:

Tell the truth and build a culture of openness
and honesty instead of obfuscations and secrecy or one that tolerates
convenient lies

Keep your pants on and zipped and when someone
doesn’t, deal with the situation in honesty instead of obfuscation and secrecy

Re-read the gospels and pay close attention to
what Jesus actually does say and what he doesn’t say – not what you want him to
say, not what you think he says, not what you hope he says, not what you insist
he must say to justify what you’ve been doing

Truly imitate Christ and don’t worry about who
does it better – nobody does it perfectly and you look like a pack of fools
trying to figure out who is the most superior amongst a flawed, sinful bunch

Stop lording over others - which will be an automatic byproduct of
doing the previous steps

Dramatically simplify and revise Canon Law so
that it’s aligned with the gospels keeping in mind that Jesus simplified 613 Mosaic
laws to 2 – imitate that “KISS” principle (“keep it simple, stupid”)

Spend at least twice as much time with the regular
folk as you do with your staff, books,
other clergy, or in solitude combined

Listen more than speak; learn more than teach;
practice more than preach; give more than take

Hold yourselves and each other accountable – be quick
to admit your shortcomings

Stop rewarding bad behavior

I think if improvements were made in even a few of these areas, the
church’s leadership crisis would abate significantly. Then we might genuinely have 70% or more of
Catholics expressing satisfaction with the bishops’ leadership instead of 59%
saying “eh…” and 71% being less than thrilled.

2 comments:

Well said, but the Vatican and the American hierarchy will do anything but pay attention. I get something out of Mass every week, but don't especially like the new Mass changes. The changes strike me more like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Interesting statistics and observations. The more unsettled I become the more I feel that there is no way of changing 'them' - that's a matter for the Spirit; she's the one who can set the air on fire and chase fear away. The change has to be in me - to have the courage to be the one who listens and tries to live it out. Giving others authority over our faith give us permission not to take responsibility and someone to use as a scapegoat- maybe that is what needs to change?

About Me

I am a single mother of three who from the eyes of the Roman Catholic hierarchy is in full communion with the Church. But I question if any woman is capable of being in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church due to clericalism, sexism, and the marginalization, and emotional abuse of women.
I hold a master degree in theology from Loyola (Master of Pastoral Studies, M.P.S.). I am not employed by the Catholic Church but rather am an executive consultant.
Some ask if I want to be a priest. We are baptized priest, prophet and king. I feel I am more called to exercise my prophetic voice than a priestly one.
(Artwork supplied courtesy of one of my daughters.)